Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Jimmy Smits Goes the Extra Mile To Launch 'Outlaw'/Mark McGrath Talks Stepping into Wayne Brady's Big Shoes

Jimmy Smits has been going the extra mile — and then a few miles more — to give a last-minute boost to his new NBC "Outlaw" series. The drama gets an early premiere tomorrow night (9/15) after the finale of "America's Got Talent," before landing in its regular Friday night timeslot.

"I'm a little worn around the edges. I'll be happy when we kind of set sail and let the shows speak for themselves," admits the nice-guy star, who's also an exec producer on the show. "But you've got to do what you've got to do. Having to travel to New York or D.C. to do press stuff, which we have to do — it's taxing. It's been an exercise in time management for me." He laughs. "Get the violins."

He was in the midst of what promised to be a 16-hour workday when we spoke to him.

The fact that Smits' new series takes lots of risks makes it all the more challenging to launch. The biggest risk: his character, a Supreme Court justice who's a decidedly flawed fellow, and who steps down from the bench in a crisis of conscience and starts taking on cases that are related to controversial issues, like immigration. The bad-boy good guy has left some critics dubious.

However, Smits points out, "It's a very personalized viewpoint we're looking at, so it's not soap-boxy ... The hot-button issues we do, juxtaposed with a character who has a lot of flourishes, complexities and chinks in the armor, makes for something really compelling." They're starting episode 4, he says, and have found their groove.

Smits' lady of 20-some years, Wanda De Jesus, has her own series about to launch as well — "Law & Order: Los Angeles." As far as how things are on the home front, he says, "We're fine. Everything is fine."

And as far as the fact that his show is scheduled opposite fellow veteran TV star Tom Selleck's "Blue Bloods"?

"I wish him well. We all just have to do the best we can when we get our up at bats, that's all," says Smits. "We're doing good work over here. I'm excited."

NOT FORGETTING: Mark McGrath admits he was a little intimidated by the prospect of hosting "Don't Forget the Lyrics" when first contacted about his latest gig.

"Wayne Brady was such a great host. Here's a guy who can go onstage in Las Vegas with no material and do 90 minutes and kill," gushes the amiable Sugar Ray front man.

"But then they told me they were going to strip the show down to a half-hour, and what they needed was sort of a gatekeeper with enthusiasm. That I could do."

In fact, McGrath proved his encyclopedic memory for lyrics as a three-time winner on "Rock & Roll JEOPARDY!" on VH1, and he served as a lifeline on Brady's old hour-long incarnation of "Don't Forget the Lyrics." And, as viewers of "Extra," which he used to co-host, as well as Sugar Ray fans are well aware, he has charm to spare. Still, he says, "They took a leap of faith with me" for the show that premieres five days a week in syndication and on VH1 starting next Monday (9/20).

McGrath, who calls the competition "karaoke with consequences," tells us, "The most surprising thing to me has been the caliber of contestants ... I'm blown away by their talent."

The rocker is keeping super busy at home these days as well, with his and fiancee Carin Kingsland's 4-month-old twins. They're already very distinct little personalities, according to Dad.

"One's a little more needy, on the verge of being whiny — my boy, Lydon. He needs to eat first." And daughter Hartley? "She is just the sweetest thing, a happy little baby. She wakes up with a smile, goes to sleep with a smile — and when she's in R.E.M. sleep, dreaming, she smiles."

WORDS TO LIVE BY: Reality TV king Thom Beers says he was "pretty stunned" by the phenomenal tune-in last month for his "Deadliest Catch" episode that marked the passing of popular sea captain Phil Harris — 8.5 million viewers, making it the highest-rated show on cable that week. "I had the Variety with that headline framed," he tells us.

Beers applauded Captain Harris' energetic lifestyle, which definitely followed the producer's own credo. He explains, "I was on a shipwreck on an island in the Aleutian Ocean once. We were trying to get the ship off the shore, but we were stuck on that boat, sleeping on the beach. But there were bears coming out of hibernation, and guess where they came — to the beach, so then we went back in the ship. And then a storm comes in. We're getting pounded, there are bears on the beach and we don' t know what's going to happen next — and I see someone has written on the wall, 'If you're not living out on the edge, you're taking up too much space.' And I said, OK! That's my motto.'"

Beers also quotes an old boss of his at Turner Broadcasting, who told him, "'Son, you don't worry about the mule being dead. You just keep loading the wagon.'" Hm. We'll have to think about that one.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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